Barely Made it Out in the Opener: What Should Manila Do in Game 2?

If you're playing to reach the North Division Finals and hopefully face the defending champions, you will need all the energy that you can get from your players. However, it was the lack of energy that almost doomed the Manila Stars in the opening game of their best-of-three semifinals of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). If Juneric Baloria nailed that potential game-tying basket at the end of the fourth quarter, things would have been different.

Fortunately, the Makati Super Crunch of Coach Beaujing Acot couldn't get anything going when it mattered the most as they are now facing a must-win situation heading into tonight's Game Two as Manila escaped with a narrow 77-74 victory that moved the latter within a win away from securing a seat in the North Division. Considering the fact that the Manila Stars blew an 18-point lead, it gave Makati the confidence that yes, they can bring down the second-seeded Stars and they can do it in tonight's game especially if Manila doesn't improve on their flaws during the series opener.

Keeping the Energy Up

To begin with, Manila was actually up, 18-10 at the end of the first quarter. They doubled it up by outscoring Makati, 26-18 in the second quarter alone. But come the second half of Game One, it was a different tune for Makati as the Super Crunch went on to outscore the Stars 46-33. Considering how close the final score was, the Stars were fortunate enough that Makati only shot five for 20 from the three-point line because if Makati was able to hit more threes, who knows what could have happened?

That inconsistent level of energy on both ends is something that Manila doesn't need in tonight's game and beyond. If they are to have a build lead tonight, it's theirs to lose too. In short, Manila shouldn't give any opportunity for Makati to get back into the game and they can only do so by continuing to pound on the points.

And speaking of energy, Manila's bench must also find a way to keep with the energy of the bench of Coach Acot. In the opening game, Makati's bench outscored their Manila counterparts, 53-23.

Score Better

Sure, Carlo Lastimosa had another one of those games as he led the way for Manila with 25 points on nine for 21 field goal shooting. But the rest of the gang? Aris Dionisio scored 12 points but went four for 12 from the field. He did have seven rebounds, four steals, and a pair of blocked shots to compensate his woeful shooting. Chris Bitoon scored 11 points but took 11 shots while making only three of them. He made it up with six assists and five rebounds though. As a team, the Stars shot 35% from the field, 37% from the two-point area, and a slightly better 32% from rainbow country. 

What they should do fix that woeful shooting?

Simple: Make better decisions with the ball. And more importantly, Chris Bitoon must turn up off the bench. We know he can do more than just a three for 11 field goal shooting.

If Manila can work things out just the way they were able to secure the second spot in the North Division during the regular season, they should be able to get a big W tonight and prepare for the next round earlier. Let Makati come back from another big deficit and there will be a winner-take-all match. In short, both teams are in a must-win situation but the pressure will be more on the Stars as they will try to close out the series. After all, closing out a series, no matter who you are playing against, is one of the hardest things to do in basketball. 

Photo is from the Facebook page of the MPBL